I’m 25 years old and have been asked to take up hockey in a social team. I’ve never played but am an avid fan of the game. My skating is okay but would really have to be worked on.
The league is very friendly competition and completely designed for fun.
My question is… Is it too late to learn to play such a complex sport like Hockey? I naturally pick up sports but I really want to know if I would be wasting my time. I’m only playing for fun, no other reason.
Are you playing roller hockey or ice hockey? If it’s ice hockey, ignore the first guy’s response, the two strides are completely fucking different. Get on the ice more.
To be honest, most guys that take up the sport after their childhood/teens tend to blow and never really get the game. But good luck, and have fun with it
Well i know this isn’t an exactly personal response.
But my neighbor is in his 40s, and not the most athletic fellow, but well built.
He recently picked up hockey as a social thing. Hadn’t ever played in his life, but always a fan of the sport. I wanna say he’s played a couple winters now. Anyways, he loves it, even though I guess they get beat on pretty badly haha.
Your young enough your probably good, but for anyone over the hill, apparently bengay is a necessity.
As long as its not competitive or serious, you should be fine. Skating is the #1 skill for hockey, so don’t expect to be able to hang with guys who have skated all their lives. Also, DONT rollerblade. That is the best way to screw up your stride. Get on the ice do a bunch of skating, stick time, public skating, etc. You could get a few roller-style pucks to practice your shooting, stickhandling off ice.
One wierd thing is that sometimes those “fun” leagues end up being way more serious than the higher level leagues. I usually play “A” level rec leagues, and one time I was rehabbing an injury so I decided to play a lower league to keep up my skating. I couldn’t believe how many fights, altercations, etc. there were! And half the guys could barely skate. It was pretty crazy.
If someone cannt get to the ice rink 2-3x a week, it is acceptable to rollerblade. I know plenty of hockey players in their offseason who stay conditioned just by lifting and playing pickup roller hockey.
So what if its a different stride, better than doing nothing during the week.
Hmm. I’ve been playing roller and ice hockey since I was 17. I’m now 27. I play both at the same time, 2 leagues. Trust me, they compliment each other.
The skating is a little different, ice hockey grants you much more control, but to tell you NOT to play roller or even just roller blade in general doesn’t make sense. Its a similar motion, just slightly different muscles are used(play roller hockey for 2 years straight and then go back to ice, you’ll find out).
-edit:
And since I neglected to address your question directly. It’s never too late to learn the sport. I’ve played in mens leagues for years now, the guys I play with, some of them started at 40.
They just wanted to try to stay in some amount of shape and have a good time(and drink beer after the games of course, beer league hockey!). So you have nothing to worry about other than going and making it happen! Enjoy yourself.
I’d recommend, if interested in training for hockey, checking out Mike Boyle’s stuff. His legacy in hockey is lllloooonnnnggg. One of the great hockey SC coaches and almost everyone associated with hockey SC is affiliated with him
Thanks for the replies. I’m clearly not looking to play too high a level but don’t want to completely suck at it.
I also agree that higher standard comps are generally where less fighting happens. I used to play D Grade basketball as it was the only night my team could compete and we had weekly fights. The following season we went into the A grade comp and never had a problem.
In my opinion, cardio is very important. In recreational leagues, most player are not in great shape, so you can make up for poor skating if you have great cardio.
So do HIIT 2-3 times a week and you’ll be flying on the ice because your anaerobic (and aerobic) capacity will be far superior to most other players.
I’ve seen guys starting playing hockey at 18-20 years of age and catching the game pretty fast. After 2-3 years they’re as good as some others guys who play since childhood.
Just to add you should do alot of skating like already mentioned, but when you do skate make sure you skate with a stick in hand. Also do alot of playing around with a puck while skating, youll find if you only skate and then two weeks later start skating around with a stick and puck you will be awkward and clumsy because your picking up habits and movements that are exclusive to just skating. Some people can skate, some people can stick handle(street hockey) but you gotta be able to tie the two together.